I had no expectations when I picked this book up; I’ve not read Listen which was Kate Veitch’s (highly acclaimed) debut novel. And so when the opening chapter detailed a conversation between two couples after a tennis match the only thought I had was that the protagonist Susanna came across as quite insecure and her husband sounded a bit like a wanker.
But to phrase it like this makes it sound too simplistic. What’s nice about this novel is that it feels like a stroll through someone else’s domestic situation; I liked that it’s reasonably current (Black Saturday, Nadal-Federer match, Siev X) and being based in Melbourne gave it a homely dimension for me. If I could liken it to anything, it almost felt like a family out of Tangle. I could see Susanna as Ally and I could see Gerry as Vince and same with the two kids – older brother with his own issues and a capable switched-on younger daughter who misses little and and is wise beyond her years.
...Forty minutes later, with a salad made but no sign of her sister, she called them all to the table. Gerry, a bottle of wine in one hand and glasses in the other, took his favourite seat facing the window. ‘Here you go chef,’ he said, passing her a glass of wine. ‘Your mother is a terrific cook,’ he told the kids as the aromatic smell of basmati rice and the rich scents of curry filled the air. Susanna sent him an air kiss; she loved the fact that no matter how simple the meal, Gerry seldom failed to make an appreciative comment…
Most of the novel has a certain predictability about it; reading the title and recognising that it applies to a domestic situation really only gives it a few avenues to go down. There will be a betrayal of sorts, if not several. That’s not to say however that the predictable element is bad; to the contrary. It provides a familiarity and I think makes this story a comfortable walk through family tragedy and self fulfillment. I enjoyed it.
